Wisconsin Basketball: Johnny Davis Working Out w/ Several Teams in Top-10 of NBA Draft

The NBA Draft will take place later this month on June 23rd, and in the weeks leading up to it, Wisconsin Basketball’s Johnny Davis has been on several different individual workouts with teams who hold a top-10 pick.

As a freshman for the Badgers, Davis primarily came off the bench on a team that was loaded with senior experience. In 24.3 minutes per game, Davis averaged 7.0 points while hitting 39% of his shots from 3, along with 4.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 1.1 steals.

However, in Year 2 with the Wisconsin Basketball program, and now as a starter, Davis’ game took a major step forward–one that I’m not sure many saw coming.

In 34 minutes per contest, Davis was averaging 19.7 points per game along with over eight rebounds 2.1 assists, and 1.2 steals. He also brings the intensity on the defensive end as well and is a very good rebounder, as evidenced by his per-game average.

If there are two areas where Davis will have to continue to improve at the next level, one is his 3-point shooting, after hitting only 30.6% of his attempts this past season, along with taking care of the ball, after he averaged 2.3 turnovers per game in 2021.

Davis, along with senior Brad Davison, was one of the leaders of this team, and oftentimes this Wisconsin offense was carried by Davis–including on several occasions in the final minutes as he took over and put games away.

Davis ended up being a consensus All-American, an All-Big Ten selection, and the Big Ten Player of the Year, along with being the winner of several other awards. On top of that, his draft stock sky-rocketed over the course of the season, and he is considered by many to be a lottery pick.

As part of the pre-draft process, Davis has now worked out with five teams — that we know of — all of whom are picking within the top-11, further illustrating that Davis very well could end up as a lottery selection.

So far, Davis has reportedly met with the Detroit Pistons, who hold the 5th overall pick. The Indiana Packers pick at six overall. The San Antonio Spurs at nine, the Washington Wizards at 10, and the New York Knicks, who sit at 11.

Here is a snippet of what the Cleveland Cavaliers team site had to say about Davis in their prospect profile:

"“An aggressive player on both ends of the floor, Davis has both the strength and athleticism to create his own shot and puts constant pressure on the defense. He’s a nightmare in transition, can get wherever he needs to go in the halfcourt and has the frame to dominate smaller guards.“For his impressive skills on the offensive end, Davis still isn’t considered a strong threat from deep after a subpar sophomore season. Davis was expected to carry the offensive load and his shot selection might have been questioned at times, shooting just under 43 overall from the floor.”"

Surely, with nine days to go before the draft takes place, Davis will continue making the rounds. Now, having said all of that, just because he has met with a specific team doesn’t guarantee that they will select him–this is all part of each organization doing their due diligence. And on the flip side, just because Davis didn’t meet with a particular team doesn’t mean they won’t take him either.

Davis looks to join the likes of Devin Harris, Frank Kaminsky, and Brad Sellers as former Wisconsin Badgers to be selected in the top-10 of the NBA Draft. In the modern era, Harris went the earliest at fifth overall to Washington before being traded to Dallas.